Quotes and speeches of the month

Welcome to this website devoted to the art of speeches in Europe today. Logos, pathos, ethos brings you some of the best quotes, speeches, and rhetorical tips. As its name suggests, this multilingual website is inspired by the long-standing European tradition of the art of speeches stretching back over twenty-five centuries. It seeks to shine a spotlight on speeches that matter on the European stage today.

Logos Pathos Ethos, December 2017

Dear Speech-fans and friends,

There
are so many good lines and quotes in this selection that this newsletter is
longer than usual – and this introduction shorter than usual.

Congratulations
to all the speechwriters behind these speeches, many of whom read this
newsletter every month. Congratulations and thank you.

Europe woke up on 24 June 2016 with a
sense of disbelief. We could hardly believe that the British people had
decided, in a sovereign vote, to put an end to 44 years of common history. We
found it hard to grasp, a few months later, that Transatlantic relations might
change as a result of the election of Donald Trump. And of course, following
each terrorist attack we found it hard to believe that our countries' children
could inflict irreparable harm on our soil.

Put the
spotlight on hope – highlighted with repetition

But on each
occasion, this sense of shock led to a common response.

Very quickly,
following the British referendum, Europeans expressed their desire to continue
to move forward together.

Very quickly,
following the election of Mr Trump, the Union spoke out strongly to reaffirm
its commitment to multilateralism and the fight against climate change.

Very quickly,
following each of the attacks on our soil, in Paris, Brussels, Nice, London,
Manchester, Berlin, Stockholm and Barcelona, we saw a display of solidarity
between the peoples of Europe and a determination to fight terrorism side by
side.

How to own the room - Women and the art of brilliant speaking

Viv Groskop

Pay attention to the first two words of the title: “how to”: they imply that there is a way, that you can learn. And indeed, the idea that we – women, but “they don’t have the monopoly of insecurity”, so actually everybody, really – can learn “how to be powerful in (our) speaking is at the heart of this book.
Viv Groskop invites u[...]Read more

Quotation of the day

« “It is in the moment of profound doubt that we can give birth to new certainties.”
Quoted by Christine Lagarde, Forging a stronger social contract—the IMF’s approach to social spending, 14 June 2019.
... »

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Logos Pathos Ethos, November 2017

Welcome to the new readers who have subscribed
to this monthly newsletter following the World Conference of the Professional
Speechwriters’ Association in Washington DC from 16 to 18 October.

Each conference is different from the
previous ones but the inspiration and motivation you get remain as high, from
the keynote address to conversations with peers, new tips and insights on
storytelling, voice, and ‘the nuclear bomb of rhetoric’ (ie metaphors, for
better or for worse), professional advice from the most experienced and
talented colleagues, to exchange with the laureates of the Cicero Speechwriting
Awards.

There are more and more European
speechwriters attending this gathering. That they attend this professional
conference is a good omen for the future of European speeches.

I was invited to deliver the «state of speeches
in Europe in 2017» speech. Looking back at the ones delivered over the last
twelve months, our speeches are getting more and more to the heart of the matter :

Who are we ?

What are our values ?

What do we want to build together ?

The best lines delivered last month confirm
this trend to existential questions: just look at the selection on:logospathosethos.eu

Isabelle

It starts with a fair assessment:

Over the last years managing all these crises, we've been excessively pragmatic in communicating about them. Trying to convince people with PowerPoint presentations and graphics, saying: "We're doing better than you think... Yes, you might feel like that, but here are the numbers." And we've lost many people because of that.

Britain's
referendum campaign was full of false arguments and unacceptable
generalisations. But it would have been a big mistake to interpret the negative
result exclusively as a symptom of British exceptionalism and Euroscepticism,
because all over Europe, even moderate voters were asking "Is the European
Union the answer to problems of instability and insecurity, or is it now
standing in the way?"

Logos Pathos Ethos, October 2017

Dear speech-fans and -friends,

September means back to school, back to
work and, for world leaders, back to the United Nations General Assembly. This
annual gathering gives the floor to the largest variety of speakers, with one
common goal : describe the world and the challenges ahead in just a few
minutes to the widest possible audience and get this message across. You will
find a selection below.

In Europe, September means back to the
European Parliament for the State of the European Union. This address, together
with the Brexit negotiations and other topical issues, also calls for clear and
powerful messages.

And for speechwriters, autumn means back to
the Professional Speechwriters Association World Conference. This year, moved
from September to October. We will be there, with for sure a fruitful harvest
next month. Stay tuned.

Logos Pathos Ethos, September 2017

Dear speech-fans and -friends,

Over the summer, two major European figures
passed away: Helmut Kohl and Simone Veil. Their lives inspired eulogies that
stand out as they provide an opportunity to stand back and reflect on what
ultimately matters, celebrate values and achievements, and share a vision of
what unites us. Little surprise that several quotes in this selection come from
these epideictic speeches.

Our shared interest for great speeches has
found an unusual space on TV this summer. The European TV channel Arte has a
special series on great speeches, available en français : Les grands
discours und natürlich auch auf Deutsch: Grosse
Reden.

The history of
her life is the history of our continent, the history of a continent torn
apart, lost, which experienced the worst atrocities of which humanity is
capable, but which, like her, found the strength to rise up again, to rebuild
itself and to be reborn.

In her inaugural
speech, which she gave on 17 July 1979, she showed that she grasped the true
nature of the responsibility on her shoulders.

This is what she
said: ‘For this is the first
time in history, a history in which we have so frequently been divided, pitted
one against the other, bent on mutual destruction, that the people of Europe
have together elected their delegates to a common assembly . Letthere be no
doubt, these elections form a milestone on the path of Europe, the most
important since the signing of the Treaties’.

In a 23-minute
speech, she set out, with exceptional clear-sightedness, a vision for the
development of our Parliament over the next 40 years.

I urge you to
read the speech, if you have not already done so, because it seems to me to be
remarkably topical. You will find in it enthusiasm, hopes, expectations, the
ambitions of a whole generation of men and women who sat on these benches
before us and who we should all take as our inspiration.

I ask you to think about something not in
my notes. I was looking around this crowd today, and all of us who used to be in
office, all of us who came. Why ?

Because Helmut Kohl gave us the chance to
be involved in something bigger than ourselves, bigger than our terms of
office, bigger than our fleeting careers, because all of us, sooner or later,
will be in a coffin like that.

Logos Pathos Ethos, July-August 2017

Dear speech-fans and -friends,

Summer
is coming: a heat wave has affected Brussels and several places in Europe over
the last few days, giving climate change a very direct and tangible feel. You
will find a major plea on climate action in the speech UN Secretary General
Antonio Guterres delivered just before the US presidency would announce their
decision on the Paris Agreement.

Summer
is coming, and so are a few positive events and trends in Europe. They echo in
a lighter touch in some of the European speeches. Imagine … John Lennon quoted
in the European Council …

Summer
is coming, and hopefully for many of you, time for a break, time to read, time
to get inspired. If you read French, savourez Trop
de fleurs, délicieux petit discours dans lequel
Jules Verne nous parle de ce qui nous anime, l’écriture de discours: léger et
drôle, un régal de rhétorique au meilleur sens du terme.